so much," answered Willy. "Who is going to protect me from this bad man?" The last words he whispered in the ear of his little friend.

"Your holy guardian angel," he answered, "and we will all pray for you."

"Come on, nephew, I don't want to stay here any longer," urged the
Captain, and a moment later the two had left the College of the Holy
Saviour and were out in the street.

Immediately after their departure Father Somazzo called his pupils into the chapel and there they commended their small companion to the Blessed Virgin and the holy guardian angels. Of all there assembled small Peppo prayed most earnestly.

"O holy guardian angel, thou who art my protector," he said in his childish simplicity, "Willy will now have need of two guardian angels instead of one, if God will permit, go and help Willy's guardian angel to protect him from the bad man who has taken him away. You see here where I am the good Fathers will watch over me, and it will be enough if each day you but look at me and then fly away to Willy. But, dear angel, come to me when I am in danger and call for help."

After this the boys returned to the schoolroom, and as soon as they were at work, Father Somazzo took his hat and walking-stick and went to the city to consult Mr. Black, an English lawyer. To him he stated the case assuring the learned gentleman that the father would not willingly have placed his child under the guardianship of this younger brother, who was a gambler and a spendthrift, and asked if there was any way of getting the boy a way from him. Mr. Black said that according to law the uncle, as next of kin, could claim the guardianship of his brother's children, and unless sufficient proof that he was not a fit person to have such guardianship could be secured immediately, months might elapse before he could be taken from him. At the time of our story Hongkong was not connected with Europe by telegraph, as it now is, and it took from eight to ten weeks to communicate with people in Dublin.

CHAPTER III.

Aboard the "St. George."

The Captain took his nephew directly to the harbor. The boy cried softly to himself as he trudged along, and at last his uncle said to him in a mild tone of voice, "Willy, stop your crying. See, all the passersby are looking at you. If I were a boy like you, I would be only too happy to get out of such a tiresome old place where you just learn and pray all day long. I am going to take you into quite a different school, one in which all is bright and gay. On board the ship you won't have any old exercises to do."

"Oh, but I liked everything at the College so much, and in the new school there won't anybody know me," wailed Willy. "And you—are you really my uncle?"

"Most assuredly. How can you doubt if? Just look at me! Have I not the same hooked nose that your father had?"

"Yes, but you have no such friendly eye. And my father always had so much reverence for the Father Prefect."

"While I speak to the Father Prefect only compliments in which all the i's are dotted and all the t's are crossed most punctiliously—ha! ha!—not so bad. But now see here: let us strike a bargain. You recognize me as your uncle to whom you owe obedience, and everything will be all right. If you go on in this obstinate, defiant way, you shall, so sure as my name is John Brown, this very day make the acquaintance of the cat-o'-nine-tails, and take a diet of bread and water in the company of the rats in the hold of the ship for awhile."

Willy had once seen a cabin boy flogged with a cat-o'-nine-tails, and there was nothing in the world which he feared more than rats, so he thought it best to make peace with his uncle. After a pause he said:

"If you really are my uncle, I must obey you, but don't whip me, and don't shut me up with the rats, please.—If you wish me to love you very much indeed, send me back to the College."

"Don't say another word about that College," snarled the Captain with a dark look. "Now dry your eyes. Here we are on the shore, and here is our boat. Get in, obey—else—"

The Captain sprang into the boat and Willy followed without more ado. He looked back toward the city to seek among the domes that of the Cathedral of the Holy Saviour, and soon recognized it by the scaffolding. At sight of the glittering crosses tears came to his eyes, but the thought that those he had left behind would pray for him comforted him. Unmoved he gazed while the boat glided in and out between the great ships at anchor in the harbor, and at last, far out, they reached the ship they sought. The "St. George" was a beautiful boat with three masts, and as we have said Willy had made more than one trip on it with his father. He was then the darling of the crew. Now as he climbed the ladder behind the Captain strange faces peered down at him over the railing; there were new officers, and officers and crew alike seemed rough fellows. Late in the evening as he stood on the rear deck watching the golden crosses of the Church of the Holy Saviour in the light of the setting sun, he heard a well-known voice behind him speak his name.

"Oh, it is you, Tommy Green!" said Willy looking around in a friendly manner. "So there really is after all one old friend on board. Are you still the second mate? Where are James and John and all the rest?"

"Well, Master Willy," said Tommy, "they are all gone, one to the 'South Star,' and the others to 'The Water Rose.' I was on the point of leaving"—then he added, looking around cautiously and lowering his voice, "for the life on the 'St. George' is not what it was when your father was alive. God rest his soul! Now instead of rice sacks and bales of merchandise we carry human freight—slant-eyed, pig-tailed Chinamen bound for the gold fields of Australia."

"I am so glad you are here, Tommy; there is one human being on board I know," repeated Willy.

"Why Master Willy, do you not know your uncle, the Captain?"

"I did not know until today that I had an uncle."

"Is that possible? Well, your father surely had no reason to be proud of his brother. Why, in a single night he gambled away 'The Gold Nixie' and more, too. I believe that he would gamble away the 'St. George' if it were his, but it belongs to you, Master Willy. I ought not to say anything to such a young lad as you about the matter—I know that, but—"

In the cabin Redfox, the first officer, and the Captain sat in earnest conversation. "Redfox, your wish is fulfilled. My nephew is on board, but, do you know, now that I have seen the boy—he so much resembles my poor dear brother when he was his age—I have not the heart to carry out our plan," said the Captain.

"Hm, hm," answered the first officer, stroking his red beard, and giving the Captain a wicked side glance, "hm—and we have everything so well planned. It is our only salvation. Must I repeat the reasons why?"

"It is not necessary; I understand them, but when our salvation is bought at such a price—shall I say it?—bought at the price of crime."

"Mr. Brown, you can do it, and it is not only your salvation, but also mine.—I am far from planning to sacrifice the half million for which the 'St. George' is insured on account of any evasion on your part. The half million will suffice to pay our debts and give us enough to live on for awhile. After your brother had the good grace to die just at the right time—"

"Do not speak to me of his death. As time goes on I become more and more convinced, Redfox, that you had a hand in his death."

"Your brother